


Cold As Ice

by cassie_oh_peiathequeen (orphan_account)



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Athletes, Awkward Flirting, CEO Tim Drake, Champions On Ice, Comfort/Angst, Damian Wayne is a Little Shit, Designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Free Skate (Figure Skating), Gen, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Ice Skating, Interns & Internships, Jason is a Dork, Marinette can ice skate, Mentioned Other Figure Skaters, Physical Therapy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Retired Tim Drake, Stalker Tim Drake, Tim Drake Angst, Tim Drake Has a Bad Time, Tim Drake's Missing Spleen, We Are All Alya Césaire, What Was I Thinking?, Winter Olympics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23503630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/cassie_oh_peiathequeen
Summary: Ladybird. That was her name. At least, that was how Tim remembered it. Except she wasn't Ladybird, or Ladybug, or any sort of insect. Her name was Marinette, and apparently she was working for his father. The situation is only more awkward because Tim knows who she is, and Marinette isn't too happy with that.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 10
Kudos: 95





	Cold As Ice

**Author's Note:**

> I like ice skating and I love Tim Drake, soooo why not BOth? I KNOW, I AM INSANE. Don't mind me, I'll be creating angst over here in my corner.

It was one of his bigger moments, he would admit. He made it to the junior championships, and there were skaters of all kinds walking around the rink. Of course for a while all anyone ever did was talk as they waited for their turn on the ice, but then there was silence. Tim looked around, but caught one of the guys from his tournament talking to the other female figure skaters. 

“I hear she's won junior champion twice, two years in a row, going for third today,” a blonde girl said a bit enviously.

It felt weird, sounding so competitive, when they were barely 12 and 13, but ice skating had been their life. Another boy nodded quietly, “She was top in her division in France, too.”

Tim blinked,  _ she was top division? _ He needed to take a closer look. She was small and delicate looking as she skated around, warming up her muscles. Every move was precise, and planned as she came to the center, head bowed. Everyone was silent as the music began, a sort sorrowful flute began, and she was off.

Tim held his breath, as she began to glide across the ice, every movement elegant, and so broken as she turned, and spun, arms raised gracefully. Tim was reminded of a bird, the way she gently hopped from toe to toe as she skated along. Soon enough she broke into a speed, and the crowd itself had grown so quiet, as if everyone there was holding their breath, waiting on her every movement. Her body lurched forward, and she quickly launched herself into a perfect triple lutz, followed by a triple toe.

Everyone in the crowd exhaled through their cheers, before dying down as she began again. This girl had all eyes on her, and she didn't even notice. It felt so strange, as if Tim and everyone there had been prying on such an intimate moment between her and the ice. She turned on the ice, falling into a double axel, triple toe, double toe combination that sent the crowds roaring. She fell into a spin, slowly raising her leg, bringing her momentum with her as she sped up.

The crowd roared again, and Tim was in awe of this young girl, who held so much power. He could stare at her all day, really, her performance was enthralling, and her broken passion… It could be the lighting, or make up, but it seemed as if a few tears managed to slip down her pale cheeks, glistening in the spotlight. 

_ “Timothy Drake to the ice rink.” _ The announcer's voice droned from the distance, and Tim panicked as he rushed off, taking one last look at the mysterious ice skater.

After his performance, he waited impatiently for them to hand him his trophy for first place, before zooming off to the rink where  _ she  _ had been performing. But to his chagrin she was gone, and a new competition was being started. 

“Hey, did you know the name of the skater that was performing earlier,” he asked one of the skaters, “She was uh, short and wearing a red bodiced outfit and she had pigtails.”

The skater chuckled, “You're really bad with descriptions, kid, but I'm gonna assume you mean Ladybird?”

“Ladybird?” Tim echoed in confusion.

“Yeah, she was skating just earlier, she won the championship, again. She never uses her name in her performances,” The older teen explained.

“Oh. Does she skate often, performance wise,” Tim said casually, trying to veil his interest.

“Dunno kid, she lives in France and rarely performs in the States unless it's for the Junior Championship.”

“Oh, well uh, thanks for the help,” he stuck out his hand, years of manners being burned into his head finally coming into effect. “Tim Drake.”

The elder boy scoffed, “Kid, I know who you are. Name’s Jake.”

“Ah, yeah, well thanks for the help, Jake.”

“No problem kid, congrats on your win.”

Tim nods quietly, as he returns to the limo, Alfred pulling out of the driveway. “How was the competition, Master Tim?”

Tim shrugged, showing his gold trophy to Alfred with a small smile, “It was fun.”

“Very good, master Tim. I'm happy to say Bruce has made time to be at your next regionals championship. He gave his word.”

“And when does his word count?” Tim muttered with a frown.

“Master Tim, you know he tries.”

“Yeah, sure.”

* * *

A few years later, not only was Tim Drake CEO of Wayne Enterprises, but he had also managed to win the winter Olympics, you know, as a side hobby sort of thing. Bruce was there to watch him take home the gold too, and it felt good. Dick made it, hell, even Jason showed up, along with Stephanie cheering him on in crowds. Yeah, he had won gold at 15, but that was the old Tim Drake, that was before everything happened. Before he lost his spleen, which stunted his health quite a bit, though Tim believed he was fine, the moment he tried to get back to being how he used too, it just… he wasn't the same. It took him a whole lot of physical therapy and meds for him to get back on the rink, but it was so worth it.

Of course he isn't doing it for sport anymore, this was more of a guilty pleasure hobby. But he could if he wanted too. But the story did end there, and it was just another day for Tim in the great building of Wayne Enterprises.

“Mr. Drake, you have a meeting scheduled with Bruce in five minutes,” his intern said through the phone, and Tim sighed.

“Fun.”

Tim walked in on Bruce, who was having a conversation with a young girl, around his age. Bruce stood, “Tim, good to see you remembered our meeting.”

“Kinda couldn't forget… Am I interrupting something?” Tim looked between the two, feeling a sudden burst of nostalgia as the girl stood up.

_ I was her. _ It had to be here, everything about her… her hair, those same eyes, Tim could never forget that performance…  _ But how on earth did she end up in Gotham again? _

“Oh no, Miss Dupain-Cheng was about to leave,” Bruce remarked, shaking her hand. Tim blinked out of his daze, wondering if he was right or not/

She offered a smile, “Thank you for accepting my applications sir, I'm very excited to be working with you. Nice meeting you, Mister Drake.”

She seemed indifferent to him, but he couldn't help it as he blurted the next few words. “Are you Ladybird?”

She turned, eyes cold and harsh, glaring at him, “What?”

Tim swallowed, before regaining composure, “I feel like.. I uhm, have seen you before? Did you happen to be a figure skater when you were younger?”

She seemed a bit frightened, as if remembering something, before blinking. “No. I’ve never skated in my life, sorry, you must have mistaken me for this… Ladybird. Good day to you.”

Bruce gave him a look, and Tim sank into his chair. “Don't even”

“What was that about?”

Tim sighed deeply, “I don't know. What's going on anyway?”

“She's a designer who will be working in our resources department, she's been developing some fabrics for me for a while, and she does work on your brother's costumes.”

“For the bats?”

“No, Damian’s competitive outfits.”

Tim scoffed, “Damian can’t even skate.”

Bruce gave a little sigh, as he rubbed his forehead. “Damian’s is getting better, thanks to Dick and his training.”

“That’s what he says but it's just a really nice lie, you know how Dick is,” Tim whispered, before taking Bruce's cup of coffee. 

Bruce watched him with a flat look, “I called you in because you'll need to be getting Miss Dupain-Cheng familiar with our systems and labs. She's here, and you're the CEO after all.”

Tim scowled, “Isn't that your excuse for when you don't feel like dealing with newbies?”

“Yes, her orientation begins tomorrow.”

“I hate you sometimes,” Tim muttered.

“I know,” Bruce replied, before pressing a button on his telephone. “Kelly will you send up some coffee?”

Tim rolled his eyes as he walked out the door, _ great, now he had to show her around, and their first impression was just, absolutely trash. It's like my life was meant to be a never ending spiral of failure and depression. _

**Author's Note:**

> phew, I uh, oop-


End file.
